Edith Riggs Barakat

Edith Riggs Barakat, 95 of Minocqua, died peacefully at home, on February 18, 2025.

Edith was born on December 30, 1929, in Shaowu, China, to missionary parents Charles and Grace (Frederick) Riggs.

Edith’s obituary is long, because she had a full life. As a genealogist herself, we feel she would favor the inclusion of these many details for future genealogists to discover.

At six-months old, Edith made her first ocean trip across the Atlantic when her parents returned to New York for a sabbatical. At age two and a half, her family took a road trip across the United States, then leaving for an ocean voyage across the Pacific to return to China. Before she turned three, Edith had traveled around the world!

At the age of seven Edith and her parents returned to the United States because the Second Sino-Japanese War had broken out in China.

When she was nine, Edith’s parents returned to China to continue their mission work. It was too dangerous for Edith to go along, so she lived with her maternal grandparents in Scotia, N.Y. 

She did not see her mother for five years, nor her father for six.

Edith eventually returned to China with her parents.

After graduating from high school in China, Edith went to the Ginling Women’s College in Nanjing. However, before her second year, the Chinese communist revolution hit a turning point, and it was determined unsafe for her to stay.

At 18-years old, Edith and a friend left China via the merchant ship MS Malacca which took them from Shanghai, China, to Antwerp, Belgium. She traveled on to Baden, Switzerland, where she attended a French finishing school for 11 months.

Edith then returned to the United States and enrolled at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Shortly after beginning her term, it was discovered she had active tuberculosis. She was admitted as a patient at the Glenridge TB Sanatorium in Schenectady, N.Y., and stayed there for a year and a half until she was released in May of 1951. Edith had many memories of sleeping on a snowy porch, and visitor days when her grandfather Frederick would come to see her, and of changes in TB treatments which were developing at the time.

After her release from the san, Edith attended Swarthmore College for two years. There she met Farouk Barakat, a native of Jaffa, Palestine, who was attending Swarthmore on a scholarship. They were married in Arlington, Va., in 1953.

Edith and Farouk moved to Chicago, Illinois, and had two children, Samir and Susan.

In 1963 the family moved to Jordan. They had planned to stay in Amman, but instead returned to Illinois in 1964. Eventually buying a home in Niles, Ill., Edith was able to develop her gardening skills. She also worked at the high school library where she met Chip Wulff. He and his wife, Georgia, provided a connection back to the Northwoods, where Edith and Farouk had previously rented cabins and spent happy times.

Susan moved to Minocqua in 1982. She and Edith bought cabins on Blue Lake in 1984.

In 1985 Farouk’s employer, Rego Corp, moved him to Burlington, N.C. 

It was far from Edith’s beloved cabin, but North Carolina provided an opportunity for her to spend time with her sister, Betsy, who lived in Durham. Summer visits were enough for a while, but in 2005 Edith and Farouk made Minocqua their fulltime home, settling into a house in town and spending summers at the lake.

Edith indulged in creative arts her whole life. She knitted, made jewelry and baskets, sewed quilts, vests, hats, and stuffed animals. She was represented by the Goode Gallery in Woodruff.

After Farouk died in 2013, Edith continued to shift with the seasons between town and lake living. She enjoyed watching wildlife, and kept a detailed journal of her sightings. Edith was a fantastic gardener, and she and her daughter Susan spent many hours transforming her yard and deck into works of floral beauty.

Edith was curious by nature, and she never stopped learning. She was always looking up facts online, learning more about subjects from PBS, and teaching herself new skills. She taught herself how to scan and digitize documents and photos. This was helpful for her genealogy efforts.

Edith took on the role of genealogist and archivist for her extended family, pulling together pictures, documents, genealogy charts, and family stories spanning 14 generations. For decades Edith shared her work with family members by mailing thick packets of documents. Eventually she put her entire collection into the cloud, where it remains accessible to any interested reader at tinyurl.com/EdithFamilyArchive (https://drive.google.com/

drive/folders/1eu5B6T7IgEmhZlAvrw_zkBdPBd0nuFJe).

A particular focus of the archive are the stories of her illustrious father, Charles Riggs, an agricultural missionary in China from the end of WWI until his imprisonment as a suspected spy by the Communist Government during the Korean War.

In the final year of her life, Edith was instrumental in assisting the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre in ceremonies (May 2024) recognizing Charles’ heroic contributions to the Chinese people with his efforts in governing the Nanking Safety Zone during the Japanese invasion of 1937.

Edith excelled at hospitality. Up to her very last days, a visit always began with Edith offering guests food and a beverage. During visits, Edith would tell stories of her unique life experiences. She was also an earnest listener who had unique perspectives on the topics of discussion. She had many close friends of all ages.

Edith is survived by her son Sam (Claudia Marseille) Barakat and daughter Susan (Brian Logan) Barakat, granddaughter Mira Barakat, and many beloved nieces, nephews, and their kin. She was preceded in death by her husband Farouk, her parents, and siblings.

As Edith celebrated this year’s Lunar New Year, she somewhat cynically claimed she was still on this earth because in past new years, she had slurped too many long noodles, the recipe for a lengthy life. This year, she broke her noodles before consuming them. She felt she had indeed experienced a long, productive, happy life. Edith was 95 and ready to walk on. We wish her happy trails.

You may leave your private condolences for the Barakat family at www.carlsonfh.com. The Carlson Funeral Home, 715-369-1414, is serving the Barakat family.